Mosquitoes deliver malaria 'vaccine' through bites

[The Straight Story]

Mosquitoes deliver malaria 'vaccine' through bites

By MARILYNN MARCHIONE (AP) – 18 hours ago

In a daring experiment in Europe, scientists used mosquitoes as flying needles to deliver a "vaccine" of live malaria parasites through their bites. The results were astounding: Everyone in the vaccine group acquired immunity to malaria; everyone in a non-vaccinated comparison group did not, and developed malaria when exposed to the parasites later.

The study was only a small proof-of-principle test, and its approach is not practical on a large scale. However, it shows that scientists may finally be on the right track to developing an effective vaccine against one of mankind's top killers. A vaccine that uses modified live parasites just entered human testing.

"Malaria vaccines are moving from the laboratory into the real world," Dr. Carlos Campbell wrote in an editorial accompanying the study in Thursday's New England Journal of Medicine. He works for PATH, the Program for Appropriate Technology in Health, a Seattle-based global health foundation.

The new study "reminds us that the whole malaria parasite is the most potent immunizing" agent, even though it is harder to develop a vaccine this way and other leading candidates take a different approach, he wrote.

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5gczkvlTL-dGpicQBi2XCbTaXwYGQD99OC5SG0

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

1. Cue the luddites in 3... 2...

[havocmom]

Luddite here. Just an observation, not an argument for or against.

Defense contractors always looking of products to sell. Hmmmm, mosquitoes carrying designer products to general population.... :think:

What could possibly go wrong?

edited for coding error

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

5. I'll give it an 8.9

High marks for general screwballery.

A slight dock for failing to mention the Sci-fi channel movie "Mansquito" as a warning to us all.

[havocmom]

6. LOL what, you don't think defense contractors think up screwball ideas?

There's big bucks in screwballery for the DOD!

[tabatha]

2. That is smart!!

[Deja Q]

3. Cool! Everybody wash off the bug repellent and hang around bodies of water at dusk.

:party:

[havocmom]

4. Yeah, cuz West Nile Virus isn't really a problem

for most people ;)

[backscatter712]

7. Wondering if this could be developed into a conventional vaccine.

Essentially, use syringes to deliver the parasites (in a weaker form?) and the chloroquine, maybe in a series of shots, and develop immunity that way.